The Best Books for Learning Capoeira

Capoeira is a martial art that originated in Brazil. Here, African slaves first used Capoeira as it was technically illegal for them to train martial arts. As a result, they hid their fighting skills by inventing and training Capoeira which looked like a form of dancing. Since then, it has grown in popularity outside of Brazil and is known for improving your core body.

In this article, we’ve gathered the best Capoeira books to learn from. These books include learning about the technique, as well as some books that are based on the culture and historical roots of Capoeira. So, if you want to learn how to fight or if you’re just interested in the cultural side of Capoeira then you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve picked these books on the following criteria:

• Price (affordability)
• Length and detail
• Diagrams and illustrations
• Easiness to understand

Essential Capoeira by Mestre Ponchianinho

If you want a good introduction to Capoeira, then this book is a good place to start. It features information on warm ups, drills, and general technique. It also looks at the historical side of Capoeira as well as the rules and hierarchy within the discipline.

What also helps is that it includes various photographs throughout which will guide you and make it easier to understand what is being written. Overall, this book is probably best suited for beginners and those that are just starting out.

Capoeira Conditioning by Gerard Taylor

If you’ve trained Capoeira, then you’ll understand how tough it can be on your body. In short, a few months of consistent training will improve your core muscles and movement. Until then, it can be quite a struggle and there are lots of unorthodox movements and positions that you’ll encounter.

This is where Gerard Taylor’s book comes in handy. The point of this is to improve your conditioning for Capoeira which in turn will make it easier to train. Generally, a lot of this includes variations of yoga, breathing techniques, and improving your flexibility. In Capoeira, it’s no good having knowledge without the application, so this book is aimed at improving your movement which is key.

Learning Capoeira by Greg Downey

As the title suggests, this book is about learning Capoeira. However, it’s more of a study and a sociological look at the martial art, rather than a guide book. Here, the author Greg Downey learned Capoeira for 10 years and also studied the people who were practicing it.

Downey goes into the origins of the art, as well as the current day which means looking at the physical and verbal communication from his teachers. You will learn moves from this, but it should be noted that for the most part, it’s more historical than it is educational.

Capoeira 100 by Gerard Taylor

This book is as it says, which is 100 Capoeira techniques to learn from. Therefore, if you’re not interested in the history and just want to learn then this is for you. It’s also split into two different categories. The first is based on fighting techniques such as kicks and escapes and the second section is based on movement.

The idea of improving your movement is to enhance your balance, timing, and agility which will overall improve your fighting skills. As you may have figured, Gerard Taylor is a skilled Capoeira practitioner and explains everything very well.

The Fundamentals of Brazilian Capoeira Program by Chris Roel

Apparently, using this book will take you from a beginner at Capoeira to an intermediate level within 12 months. It does this by showing fighting techniques such as kicks and takedowns, but then goes further. As you’d imagine, it also has a large section based on acrobatics and how to improve your athleticism which is also essential.

What’s also nice about this book is that it also looks at the musical side of Capoeira. So, if you also want to learn about the lyrics and percussion side of things then this book also has a more interesting side to it as well.

Capoeira: An Exercise of the Soul by C. Daniel Dawson

In this book, C. Daniel Dawson explores the historical side of Capoeira as well as its modern relevance. He traces back its early days to the African slave trade and the importance of movement and music for its cause.

What’s good about this book is that it also looks at other, similar African martial arts that are still used today. Although many people tend to think of the far east when it comes to martial arts, it turns out that Africa also has a large martial arts culture too. If you’d like to learn more about this then check out An Exercise of the Soul.

Capoeira Over 40 by Chris Roel

You may assume that Capoeira is suited for younger people. In fact, as a generalization, this is quite correct. However, Chirs Roel shows you how to do it even if you start at over 40 years old. To do this, Roel suggests improving your diet, yoga, and other lifestyle habits.

This doesn’t just apply for 40 year olds too. Even if you’re out of shape and want to start Capoeira then this book is recommended. So, don’t give up on the dream of training just yet – there is hope and if you’re careful then you can train for years, despite Capoeira being physically challenging at times.

Capoeira: Game! Dance! Martial Art! by George Ancona

This book is suited for kids and is basically a Capoeira picture book. As you can imagine, the goal of this is to get your child interested in Capoeira whilst also having fun. Here, it shows you the history of Capoeira, the terminology, and other things which are worth learning about.

Obviously, you can’t get a child to read an adult book as they’ll lose interest. So, this acts as a fun but educational book that is also supplemented with plenty of pictures and photos to make sure your child learns about this martial art.

O Rei’s Capoeira Ground Game System by Chris Roel

When thinking about Capoeira, a lot of people tend to focus on the kicks and athletic movements. However, less is typically focused on the ground game side of things. For those that want to learn Capoeira ground attacks, this book is ideal.

Roel also goes through the correct stretches and movements as well as offering a comprehensive system of how to combine attacks from the floor. There’s no nonsense here and it’s all fundamentally sound stuff that will improve your overall game as a Capoeira practitioner so it’s important not to neglect the ground.

The Little Capoeira Book by Nestor Capoeira

Although this is called ‘The Little Capoeira book’, it’s actually 240 pages long so isn’t exactly small. Here, Nestor Capoeira basically acts as a historian and is almost a human version of an encyclopedia. He doesn’t just look at the roots, but also names off the most famous Capoeira practitioners, as well as discussing the song’s rhythms in detail.

Of course, there’s also a devoted section to learning techniques but this offers a fairly unique approach to the culture of Capoeira. Whilst there’s plenty of books looking at its history, this book goes above and beyond and you know Nestor really lives and breathes the Capoeira lifestyle.